Crazy weather

So who can you trust if you can't trust the Buenos Aires Herald. They said [on Friday] that it was supposed to be rainy today. As such, I postponed my trip to Colonia, Uruguay.

It is in the upper 70s and sunny right now.

Ack.

Tomorrow is election day in Uruguay, so the trip is postponed until next weekend. The timing will work out well for my passport, as [about] next weekend will be my fourth week here, and the return stamp to Argentina will cover the rest of my stay, if I don't leave the country again.

I valiantly made an effort to go to a flea market today. The BA Herald made it sound different than it really was. It was a ton of antique furniture (some rather nice), some glassware, and some random, older household items. I was in and out in under seven minutes.

Went back to Recoleta Cemetery today, and took some more pictures. This time, I made it to Evita's tomb. Last time, the cemetery closed a short while after I arrived. It is no longer possible to view the preserved corpse of her, as she was buried nine (yes, 9) meters underground after someone tried to steal her corpse. I can kinda understand why someone would do that. But still, ICK.

Roamed around the outdoor market outside the Recoleta Cemetery, and bought a necklace and some earrings. The necklace is to replace a similar one that I bought on my first visit there. When I returned to the residence that evening, the clasp came undone and the glass pendant went crashing on to the tile floor of the patio. It is in three pieces. However, it was only $5 pesos, which isn't even $2 USD. I made sure the necklace I bought today has a better clasp...

Finally got around to engaging in some non-blog and non-journal writing last night. The first might make its way in to a short story. Otherwise, I started doing some groundwork for one of the novels I want to write. It was great to be creatively writing again. Especially since that's one of the reasons I took this trip -- this isn't just about travelling for me, it's also about giving myself time and space to do some serious writing.

My face is sunburnt from the walking around today. Am also in need of a siesta, as I woke up at the unheard of time of 8am this morning...

Photos of the moon

A couple of photos of Wednesday's eclipse, and the non-eclipsed moon last night. Any blurry-ness is due to my unsteady hand and the length of the shutter speed...

Lunar eclipse

Last night I saw my first lunar eclipse. When I went out for a pre-dinner walk with a couple others (that, after my massive walk earlier in the day -- even after a siesta, my muscles are still a trifle sore), the moon look like it was starting to be erased. That was 8pm-ish.

Post-dinner, the moon was maybe 1/3 in shadow.

Post-tea, the moon was 95% in shadow. I went and worked on my homework, before the temptation to watch was too strong. The eclipse was full at about midnight and started to fade at 12.30am.

I took a couple pictures. I haven't downloaded them, but if one turns out well I will post it for you.

Still tired. Though, now I need to find some dinner.

Wednesday

Sent a long message to friends and family earlier today. Heard back from several people, and that was nice.

I think I already mentioned it, but my Spanish is starting to get better. I was working on doing a little belated birthday shopping for a friend of mine (sorry K!!), and I was using my Spanish to talk to shop workers. Had a lovely chat with an Argentinian boy in a CD shop, and he complimented my Spanish. I think he was just flirting with me...

The weather is warm again. It was cool for a couple days. I´m sure my nose and cheeks are sunburnt, as I ended up walking all over the city in my quest for a certain couple of gift items (haven´t found them yet, but found another little something something). I walked and I walked and I walked and finally I took the subte home.

Did manage to find myself on the Avenide 9 de Julio. It´s the widest street in the world. It´s divided in to four sections. I took a couple pictures, which don´t do the street justice At All. However, will post them so that you, dear reader, can get an idea of the scope of the street. It´s something like 24 lanes wide -- there are two medians (with mini-parks) so that pedestrians can make it across without being slaughtered.

Last night marked the beginning of my re-entry into the world of tango classes. I´m restarting at the very beginning. I learned some good lessons in my classes in Seattle, but there are basic form elements that they didn´t cover very much. The class only had five other people in it, so we all received extra attention, and that was very good. I felt like I learned a lot yesterday. Whew. Next class is Friday night.

OK. Just wanted to say hi.

Time to go home and rest these poor feet of mine.

ps didn´t mean to post the image twice. Will take care of that later...

By popular demand: a photo

Maybe not what you were expecting or hoping for. However, this is my favorite picture so far (I didn't get any successful pictures from the Karaoke In The Kitchen last night (yes, I know I didn't write about this)).

Enjoy.

Recoleta cemetery angel. 

No real news

Finally had a good night's sleep last night. Probably aided by the fact I went on a 6 or so mile walk yesterday. No siesta.

Today was quiet. Went to class. Took care of a couple minor errands. Chatted with people from the residence.

Am working out plans, with someone else from the residence, to go to Chile in a couple weeks, and for Brasil in about four weeks. Both will be separate weekend trips.

Also am wanting to plan a short trip to Uruguay -- maybe this weekend or next. It's only an hour boat ride from BA.

Called my old roommate a little while ago, and one of the cats was singing. My eyes teared up. I miss the cats, and I really miss her. She says the house is quiet is without me, and that she's finally had to start turning on the heat. It's about 40 or so degrees there (according to another friend's email). It will be about 40 degrees here, in a month or so. However, the difference is 40 degrees Farenheit versus 40 degrees Celsius. Whereas everyone I know in Seattle will be wearing as heavy clothes as they own, I will be wearing as little as decently possible.

Yo estoy consada

Did I mention I thought Friday night would be quiet for me? Friday night did not turn out to be the quiet night I thought it would be. Along about midnight, there was a tapping at my door. Did I want to join a couple others for a drink? Sure. Twist my arm. One drink in one bar turned in to another drink in another bar turned in to dancing in a disco. De deedee de deedee de deedee de deedee trance electronica. The club was not good and we didn't stay very long. Though, I did discover you can smoke pot on the dance floor without repercussions. No, I was not smoking pot, just some young guys 'dancing' next to us. [I put dancing in quotes, because hopping up and down and adding some random kicks doesn't really qualify as dancing in my book -- it looked like a soccer warm up move.] We ended up taking another taxi (3rd of the night?) to another club, only to find the music was just as bad there. At which point, 3.30am, we decided to call it a night and head home and have some tea. We talked for maybe one hour, and each went to sleep around 5am.

Did I mention it was pouring down rain all Friday night? No, well it was. And we had a lovely partial tour of Buenos Aires, through all of our taxi rides. This city goes on and on and on. Thankfully, taxis are cheap, like many other things here, and a 10 mile taxi can cost maybe 10 pesos (~$3.30).

Yesterday was a sad day of being tired and trying to find some energy. I woke up yesterday after maybe five hours sleep. Ick. Took a couple siestas, bought some postcards. Went to dinner. And yes, dear reader, with much better club information in hand, we found a very good disco. The music actually had lyrics. The club actually did not have a smoke machine. We danced and danced, until after 4am.

Note: you can tell the travellers who are dancing in BA because they do not do the side step, side step "high school slow dance" on the dance floor. Also, they may be seen to throw their arms in the air and hop around wildly.

The songs that really get the locals dancing are samba or other popular songs from the radio here. It is a noticeable shift.

We had tea again last night, about 5.30am, and the dawn was breaking. By 6am, we couldn't stay awake any longer and headed to our rooms. It was definitely light outside.

Now, I am still fighting tiredness as I haven't been able to sleep longer than 6-7 hours at time for about four days. I have no idea why.

I have homework to do, then it's time for a siesta. Thank god (or whomever) that I don't have too much homework (though I need to study in addition to the exercises) and for siestas. I don't know what I'd do without siestas -- probably start drinking caffeine drinks again.

Another [less eventful] Friday night in Buenos Aires

A quick note to say that I slightly updated the post about the residence (I forgot to mention the hammock and I made a couple small tweaks/additions).

Also, I changed the time on my blog [several days ago, actually] to reflect the time in BA.

I killed a tiny spider in my room this morning, and there have been two heavy rainstorms this afternoon and evening. I´ve explained to a couple people the Old Wives Tale of ´if you kill a spider, it will rain.´ A couple people already knew it, but noone thought it quite as amusing as I did...

I´m starting to put together some Spanish sentences here and there. I do sound like a six year old child... We did a little conversation practice in class today, and that helped. My profesora rocks. Hopefully next week will have me speaking more sentences. However, I only know the present tense conjugation of verbs, so that limits what I can say.

Tonight, I went with another guy from the residence and another girl who is soon to be living at the residence, to part of a clasical concert at a bank, in celebration of the bank´s 150th anniversary. The music was pretty good -- just not quite to my taste for classical music. Though, I do not regret going (it was free). Live classical music is always nice. I´ve loved classical music since I was a kid, and I played four instruments while I was in high school. While I still have my flute in storage, it´s been so long since I played it that I don´t remember some of the fingerings. When I was 12 or so, I wanted to join a symphony and work on recordings of movie soundtracks. Alas, I discontinued my involvement in the school band after my junior year of high school and have since played my flute only a handful of times.

I came back to the residence hoping to find that the others and go out with them (to be honest, after the concert I was more interested in finding the others and going out with them). Alas, most were already gone and now here I am at the internet cafe.

It will be nice to have a quiet evening, as I plan on going with another person or two to a travel agency tomorrow, to see about tickets for Puerto Iguazu. We´re talking about going next weekend, and we need to book flight and hotel reservations.

I´m about to go and get some dinner and I will likely read and do some writing afterwards.

My homework can wait until Sunday night...

A little more about where I live

So, I know I've included little descriptions of where I'm staying at, and I decided it was time for a more comprehensive description.

I'm staying in a private residence. I describe it as a pension. Because I've frequently been asked what a pension is, by several of my friends: according to Merriam Webster online, a pension is "a hotel or boarding house, especially in Europe." While I am not in Europe, where I'm staying can be considered a boarding house, as most people are staying here for a longish-term stay.

With that out of the way, the residence is in the middle of downtown, near the Congresso. Congresso appears to be considered the middle of town. The neighborhood is noisy and somewhat dirty, but is very convenient. In the midst of all this sits the residence. A little unassuming door on the street takes you up a long marble staircase. It is then that you arrive at the main floor. Here, there are several of the rooms, including the living room I hook my laptop up to the family's dsl; the kitchen; an outdoor patio with a little garden and a couple bathrooms. At the end of the patio is the kitchen, and outside the kitchen there is a table that everyone congregates at throughout the day. There is also a long table in the kitchen, but fewer people fit in there, so everyone tends to sit outside unless it is raining or cold. In the corner of the patio is a hammock.

At the far end of the patio is another, tiny, staircase of cement, and that leads up to the roof. A German fellow and I have rooms on the roof, and I have a little bathroom immediately next to my room. There is also a little kitchen up next to my room, although it is covered in stuff and is not in a usable state. At the middle of the roof, there is another common table next to the parillo (bbq), and then there is the space where the family who runs this residence lives. Note that their parillo is much larger than any I've seen in the US -- Argentinians take their parillos very seriously. There was a parillo here last week, and the meat was amazing.

My room is dominated by my bed, but I am happy for the luxury. My room has an eastern-facing window, and I wake up when the sun comes up (much to my chagrin, some mornings). I also have a slanted ceiling, made of wood and with partially exposed beams. The rooms on the main floor appear much more spacious, as their ceilings are at least 20 feet high. One room even has a little loft area in it. The ceilings are exposed brick, with strips of metal bracing. While my room has a 'normal'-style door (by American standards), the doors of the main floor rooms are narrow, in the European style.

All of the keys are skeleton keys, which I think is pretty cool.

The space on the roof is still somewhat under construction. The residence of the family is very much under construction/renovation. I believe my room was that of the son, as I have a tv and mini stereo in my room, and noone else does. There is also some specialty lighting, that matches some lighting in the room I'm sitting in, and it's is some lighting fixtures that the son brought back from Germany. I also am the only resident with a double bed -- everyone else has a single and is jealous when they hear about the extra space I lucked in to. I don't watch tv (aside from that month with my roommate) and have only turned on my tv to watch part of the last Presidential debate, and last night to see if I could watch game 7 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and the Yankees. On over 50 channels (they have cable), I found four, FOUR soccer games, but no coverage of the baseball game. Where is ESPN when you need it?? Argentinians just don't follow baseball. Everyone last night was surprised by my excitement over the game, and how much I know about baseball. I was an avid fan of baseball, and watch every Mariners game for two years, while I was in college. But, I digress.

The family has a little dog named Lucas, who is about 18 years old. He is a small dog (I have no idea which breed, but I suspect a mix), with cataracts forming in his eyes. He has little time for anyone other than the son or the grandfather. In fact, he will go running after where he believes his grandfather is, with much expectation and adoration. He will let you scratch his ears, sometimes, but he will rarely walk up to you on his own.

There is also a little turtle named Damien, who is about 37 years old. I didn't know turtles could live so long. I also didn't know there was a turtle here until this past weekend. I've seen it once or twice since then, and it explains why there is sometimes a saucer of watermelon on the patio, by one of the walls.

So, this is where I live.

Yesterday´s choice

So, of course I opted for the siesta yesterday.

I didn´t finish my homework until late in the evening. The same guy and I made dinner again last night, and another woman joined us. I´m liking the communal living and cooking atmosphere. Well, I should also admit that I have a private room, so I can be alone when I want to be. Everyone does different activities (some have internships, and most everyone else is either studying tango or Spanish, or both), so we don´t generally see much of each other until the end of the day.

Dinner last night was my creation. I will call it Primero Ensalda de Shana. Lettuce, cherry tomatoes, boiled potatoes, portobello mushrooms (only 40cents a pound!!), sauteed garlic, sauteed red peppers, sauteed chicken breast. Cabernet and Merlot mix vino tinto. Rich and fruity yogurt for dessert. Amongst three people, the cost was about 3.50 USD. Including the wine.

It will be difficult to return to the states and pay American prices on anything. It will be even more difficult in Europe to pay those high Euro prices.

Maybe I will just stay here...

Languages

So, I started my Spanish class this morning. I´ve already done 1.5 hours of homework, and I still have two handouts left to complete. I´d forgotten the joys of homework... Really though, class was good and while I can´t always put in to words the linguistic reason why a particular verb form should be used, I just understand why. Not so helpful in answering the instructor´s ¨Por Che¨ question, but there you go.

Had to take a break from the homework, and looking up nearly every word in my dictionary, so here I am, blogging away.

A guy from the residence and I made dinner last night (ok, so he did the bulk of the cooking, but I *do* know how to cook). He´s Dutch, and speaks perfect English, including idioms and slang, with a British accent. We were joking around about the ¨whazzzzzup¨ commercials and laughing a great deal. A couple others ended up eating with us, and it was a quite nice dinner. A few of us are talking about flying up to Puerto Iguazu in a couple weekends. There is an awesomely (in the true sense of the word awesome) magnificent grouping of enormous waterfalls there. The falls are on the border between Brazil and Argentina. It will be a good trip and I´m looking forward to it.

To respond to another comment by Raul, who I´m beginning to feel is the penpal I never had as a kid ;), I think it´s draining to listen to foreign languages one is trying to learn just because most people don´t really concentrate that closely most of the time. Learning or listening to a language is not something you can do passively. I don´t find that it´s particularly physically draining, just mentally draining. Sometimes, I don´t even have the energy to read before going to sleep. I haven´t been a student in about six years. However, it sometimes feels different periods that I spent at Amazon -- very busy and mentally challenging. Amazon was very good and stimulating, as is learning any language. It´s taking a great deal of mental energy to understand Spanish (not just in the class), and it is so very much worth it.

You, my dear reader, can look forward to Spanish in my blog. Maybe one day soon I will be able to write a post entirely in Spanish, and you will be rushing to freetranslation.com so that you can read it.

Siesta, or walk through the city, or go back and finish my homework? These are the decisions that rule my life now.

Mi habla espanol? No. Manana, si.

Tomorrow, I start Spanish lessons. Two hours a day, five days a week. I am pleased. I will finally be able to start communicating in a coherent fashion.

However, I'm also scared about learning a new language. Realistically, I know I will do very well, and in listening to Spanish I can hear many similarities to English and French, and those similarities will make the learning easier. It's just the first couple weeks that will likely be difficult and those in the residence will likely need to exert much patience and assistance as I struggle with verb tenses and remembering words.

Those who have learned Spanish here say that most people pick it up and are fairly fluent (except for needing to learn more vocabulary) within three months. So, in three months, I will be tri-lingual. Then, it will just be fun speaking Spanish in places like Spain and Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries, as the Argentinians have a distinct pronounciation of the Spanish language.

I'm excited.

Mi primero milonga

Last night, I went to my first milonga. It was in the gazebo of a park on the other side of town. I had a good time and really enjoyed watching the dancers -- some were beginners, most were intermediate and a few were very, very good.

I only danced with one man, and I wasn't too happy with the dances. However, I later talked with two women over dinner (one is from my residence), and one of them had a poor experience with the same lead a couple weeks ago. Now, I don't pretend to be even an intermediate tango dancer, but I can follow reasonably well. Also, I will admit that I prefer a strong lead, and not a lead that makes a slight movement to indicate what I as the follow should be doing. There is a lot of small movement inherent in just moving around while dancing, and I find it difficult to follow leads who indicate via slight movement. This is also true with my salsa dancing.

Anyway, back to the lead. The two women asked if I'd noticed the lead's eyes. I said 'No, I dance with my eyes closed.' They then went on to tell me how he had serial killer eyes. When I think back to how he looked at me when I was thanking him for the dances, because I didn't like dancing with him and didn't want to continue and you should be graceful in withdrawing from a dancing partner, he just stared at me and didn't return the 'gracias'. In the end, I said gracias a couple times and just walked away. Quickly.

During the milonga, an older woman standing close to me collapsed. They stopped the milonga for about five minutes, and she was tended to. While people were shouting "medico", a medic never arrived. However, she was giving space and time and water, and her husband eventually took her home or to the hospital.

It's also worth noting that this particular milonga takes breaks in the tango dancing, and plays music for other types of dancing. One break was for a type of dance that I don't remember the name of, but I believe was another, older, traditional Argentinian dance. It looked very much like courtship and desire in action, and involved very, very little touching between the man and woman.

The other break was for swing dancing. To Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing.

Early Sunday morning

It was not my intention to wake up early this Sunday morning. I just did. I just don´t like. Though since I couldn´t immediately fall back asleep, here I am in my preferred (24 hour) internet cafe, typing away.

Raul, it´s more the speaker of German than German language in general. German can be a very guttural spoken language, in its execution. However, there are certain German men that have a certain timbre, and that is what I find sexy. One of the German men at my residence loves to hear women speak French, and he´s always pleased when I speak to the proprietress (French is our common language), and he makes comments that he would like to hear the [French] Swiss woman and I speak in French. We have not obliged him. For my part, I do not prefer to speak in French to her (and I have not done so), as my French is adequate, but not strong, and I´m sure that for her it would be like speaking with a primary school child.

There is such a sense of community in the residence, and I love it. For instance, last night I was feeling very frustrated and upset about my current lack of Spanish. [As a side note, I intentionally listen to the conversations of others in the residence, which are in Spanish, in an attempt to understand and become accustomed to it. It is helping and my word count is increasing every day, but is taking a great deal of energy and is very draining. Immersion is the best way to learn.]. Some of the others were going to dinner and to a movie, and I´d declined going. After being asked again, I ended up going, and having a nice time. There is a fellow from Holland, and he empathizes with my situation. When he was 15, he went to France on an exchange program and did not speak any French when he arrived. He made a point to speak mostly in English for much of the dinner, or at least when I was part of the conversation (there were six of us). My frustration was not something I brought up in conversation with anyone -- he asked me about this on his own volition. I was very touched by his perception and effort. It made my emotions last night a bit easier to handle. I do not expect those around me to speak English if they know the language. I think that is rude behavior and I do everything in my power to not be a Rude American and to instead try to break that stereotype.

Yesterday, I went to the cemetery in the Recoleta district. This is where Evita is buried, though I didn´t see her grave. I was only there for a short while before the cemetery was closing and I had to leave. I took some nice photos (one in particular is stunning). I intend on returning to the cemetery so I can look around some more and take more photos.

It may be interesting to know that I rather enjoy visiting cemeteries. I took a class called the Anthropology of Death while in college, and one of the topics we studied was funerary art and how different cultures memorialize their dead. I have found amazing funerary art many places in the world, and I´m always surprised that countries that do not have much disposable income will spend a fortune on their family grave site. Prague, for example. Their economy has not been strong recently (if ever), yet I found a tiny cemetery near where I stayed and it had a great deal of statuary and gravestone art. Granted, the graves were generally for an entire family, so it was not that they were dishing out a lot of money for each family member. So, back to Recoleta. The graves are above ground in crypts. Some crypts have stairways that go below ground. Other crypts will display the coffin(s) of those entombed. I should say that this cemetery is one for the wealthy. It was controversial that Evita was buried there (she is no longer on display in her glass coffin, as someone tried to steal her a few years ago. Now, she is nine *meters* underground.). Juan Peron is not buried there.

Oh, and I ended up going to dinner with several people from the residence on Friday night. The restaurant had an Argentian folk music group, and they were excellent. Afterwards, a few of us went on to a club that features Cuban salsa music, and they, too, had a live band. I absolutely love Cuban salsa music, and was ecstatic to hear some live. The club was packed. Argentine salsa dancing has different body movement than what I´ve learned. However, I was watching couples dance and the moves are the same as what I know. Something to do another night.

I do not know what today holds for me. I would like to go on another long walk (the food is heavy here and the portions are large...). Today is Mother´s Day, and many places are closed on Sundays, so my understanding is that there is not a great deal of options. I do not mind. I will happily walk and rest today.

Friday night in Argentina

Time is relative here. I do not wear a watch (though, to be honest, I haven't worn one in most of two years, but I used my cell phone as a timekeeping device in Seattle). If lunch is to be at 2pm, meeting at 2.10 and heading off at 2.35 is just fine. My walking pace is starting to slow. The first couple days, I was rushing around very quickly. Walking slowly is always a good sign, as it means I am relaxing.

I don't have firm plans for tonight. I am thinking of taking a beginning tango class, at the studio I went to yesterday, to relearn some basics. I felt I did fine in the class yesterday, but this class would undoubtedly help me in breaking some of my bad habits. Or, I might go see a movie. I've heard there is a massive cineplex that plays movies in their original language. There are plenty of films I didn't get to see before I left Seattle, and I don't really want to spend the evening alone. Who knows? Perhaps I will just lie in bed and read one of the many books I've brought, but have barely touched. By the time I get in to bed at night, I just don't have it in me to read a book. So I pick up my travel book and look at places to visit.

Last night, there was a going away bbq for a couple German women that stayed in the casa a couple weeks ago. They were only there for a week, but became part of the family during that time. The food was incredible and it was a good time for the evening -- even if there were many conversations that were entirely in German, and I don't speak German at all, except for bitte and danke. I must admit though, that I love the sound of German being spoken -- especially by men. When I was in Berlin in 1998, I was constantly seduced by the sound of men speaking. While on the U- or S-bahn, I would be leaning backwards, trying to hear more clearly the sound of men speaking German. It's just something I find rather sexy.

I'm very pleased with the casa. Staying there feels like having joined a family. It's a very comfortable environment, and the little 2nd floor garden is a lovely oasis in the middle of a busy neighborhood.

I need to find a class and start learning Spanish. I'm picking up words and phrases, but I want and need to stop relying on the people around me being able to speak English.

Unprepared, but still excited

I have bad habits from my tango class in Seattle. Too, I learned some very good basics there, and I´m very happy about that. This is to say, I went to my first tango class today. I intend to go back 3-4 times per week. The class is 10 pesos (about $3.15), for about 1.5 hours. Can´t be beat. I was chastised for having flat dancing shoes (they are shoes I use only for classes -- I wear heels for dancing). I will be going to get some custom shoes hopefully later this week. Some German women I met this morning had theirs done for 95 pesos, which is a reasonable price for beautiful leather shoes in any country.

Am planning on going to a milonga tonight, with some others. A milonga is a tango dance in a dance hall. I feel so utterly inadequate as a tango dancer, but I will know at least one lead to dance with.

The sun is out today. Maybe 75 F, or so. It´s not dry heat, but there isn´t a great deal of humidity. Take that Miami. I got pink this morning, while sitting drinking tea with the other pensioners this morning. Am happy I bought the sunscreen in Miami and I will remember to put it on before morning tea, from now on.

It´s been said that I brought the sun to Buenos Aires, as the past week was overcast, cold and misty/rainy. I like being one that brings good tidings.

My new life in Buenos Aires

Chau darlings. (insert image of me pressing my cheek to yours and pursing my lips in a kiss -- this is the standard Argentinian greeting, and is done with people you meet -- even for the first time)

And to think I was so worried about creating new friendships. My tally is at four so far. My fellow pensioners (or travellers, or whatever we´re called) are pretty cool. One of the guys is taking me to his tango class tomorrow, so I can see what I´m in for. It feels like a very nice community there, and I´m very happy for having found it.

The flight down from Miami was fine. Uneventful. I thought I would be able to sleep on the plane while it dropped people off in Lima, but we all had to deboard. So, Peru is now officially another country that I¨ve been to -- even if all I did was go through their inbound security and stand in the departure lounge for 30 minutes.

If you hear Buenos Aires described as the Paris of the South, believe it. The architecture is similar, and (so far, anyway) it has a similar feel. One big difference is that BA streets are carefully laid out on a grid system. If you´ve ever been to Paris, then you know that is not true there. All of the slight angles of the streets there will get you lost in no time. I was lost a couple times there, this past November, and I have an excellent sense of direction.

Speaking of France, and things French, my intermediate level French is proving very useful. I will likely start Spanish lessons within a week. In the meantime, I speak to the proprietress in French, as her and her husband speak less English than I speak French. The others I´m staying with are a mix of Swiss, German and another American. Conversations flip between Spanish, English, German and French with regularity. It´s very interesting, and I¨m finding I am starting to understand a very little amount of spoken Spanish. I´m very happy that I found the place I´m staying. It feels like just the type of community I desired, and I feel lucky to be around cool people.

My only gripe is with the Lonely Planet travel guide. It said year-round temperatures for BA ranged from 68-85 Farenheit. Folks, it was 55 F when I arrived this morning. Spring here feels like Spring in Seattle. I only have one sweater... Time to go shopping, I suppose... Such a hardship. Especially given the exchange rate.

I can´t wait to take a tango class tomorrow. I am feeling so excited. This trip has officially begun and I can already feel one year will not be enough. Wish me luck!

A short note on random things

1. Space bags are not all that. I found I could put more in to my backpack without them (although I did use one for the one sweater I packed). If you are packing bulky items such as sweaters, fleece, pillows (I'm acquainted with someone that travels with a down pillow), then by all means use these bags as they will help you tremendously. However, if you are travelling mostly with summerweight clothing that doesn't really compress, skip the bags if you are strapped for space.

2. Searching for a good dancing venue on a Monday night isn't generally fruitful.

3. I miss the cats. Bravado coos when you pet him while he's sleeping. In fact, he has a small range of bird-like sounds.

4. I made it through security at Sea Tac in under three minutes. I'm very glad I scheduled my cell phone service to end on Wednesday, instead of before I left Seattle. I was able to catch up on a couple phone calls during the wait time.

5. Flying from Nashville to Ft L initially seemed like the Geriatric Express. Nearly everyone initially getting on the plane was at least 70. Then, though, a bunch of younger people (predominantly 30s) boarded. Which just goes to show that the older crowd just arrived and checked in earlier (I was flying Southwest, and the earlier you check in the earlier you can get on the plane, as they have an open seating policy).

Helllllllloooo Humidity

I'll take a side order of massive humidity with my arrival in Florida, thankyouverymuch. It's been a while since I've been somewhere with a high humidity. I'm glad I packed lots of skirts for Argentina, as the weather will be similar (but not sure about their humidity level).

Silly me, I forgot to pack my sunscreen.

There is little damage in the Ft Lauderdale and Miami area. I've seen a couple palm tree stumps, that were freshly cut, and a handful of boarded-over windows. The majority of the damage from the storms was to central Florida and the Gulf side, but I still thought there would be more storm damage in this area. I suppose it was just a lot of rain and wind here.

A few months ago, I met my cousin's wife's cousin, who is from (I think) Ft. Lauderdale. I remember that he said "Miami is fake boobs." Now, I haven't actually been in to Miami yet (am waiting for room service to arrive and taking advantage of the hotel's wireless network), but my shuttle from Ft L to here was a bit roundabout. What I'm getting at, is that there are a lot of sculpted people here. Is it natural? In the men, presumably the muscles are. I haven't seen that many High Maintenance women yet.

Note to self: wear sexy black dress if I go into downtown Miami tonight.

Plug for hotwire.com: they rock. My hotel last night was about what I expected. My hotel today far exceeds what I expected. I have a suite and I paid under $70, plus taxes. From what I can tell by some online research, this room is regularly about $160, plus taxes.

I will admit that I slightly overpacked. However, I've done some calculations and I will definitely have less stuff when I leave Argentina. Case in point, I packed regular, full-sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc. This is because I expect to not be moving around a great deal while in Argentina. Once I leave there, I will immediately switching to travel size containers. In addition, I know all the clothes currently in my backpack will not be returning with me. Also, I will be shedding books as I go. I am a book person (30% or so of what I saved from my apartment: books), and cannot just start travelling a trip like this with only 1-2 books. OK. I brought six. Also, there are an additional two books which are related to some creative writing I will be doing. So, I have a total of eight books in my bags. All paperbacks. Oh, and let's not forget the travel guide, so that's nine books. Egads. The books will all be shed as they're read (except for the ones directly related to my writing and the travel book).

In case you're curious, the main backpack is about 38 pounds, and then there are two smaller ones. One just has my laptop in it, the other some miscellaneous toiletries and (yes) a couple of books, my camera and my discman (I am such the Travelling Woman With Gadgets) and my purse. If it wasn't for taking my laptop, and the adjacent cords, power adaptors, headphones (I have access to a voip account), I would be travelling at about 50 pounds total. Currently, it's about 63.

Folks, that means that I am carrying my life with me, and it weighs 63 pounds. Hah. I find that kind of funny.

Oooh. Just looked at hotel keycard for room. Didn't realize this hotel was in the Hilton chain. Hmm. That means I am contributing to Paris Hilton. Ugh. Even if it is in a ever-so-microscopic-teensy-miniscule way. However, whomever in her family is still running the hotels and acquisitions is doing a fine job -- I'm in a lovely hotel.

Argh. Am starving and room service is still not here. Need food, then nap.

29.5 hours until my flight to Argentina. 26ish hours since I left Seattle.

OK. Food's here (20 min earlier than they said). More later.

Motion blur

I have wanted to write for days. Did I mention I envisioned this week would be maddeningly frantic???

Wednesday I helped a best friend of mine finish packing and moving boxes into a storage container. He recently divorced his partner of nearly 12 years. Part of me wishes I wasn't going, so I could be here for him. We ended the day over dinner at Gordon Biersch (cheeseburgers and oh-so-yummy garlic fries -- a bit of a tradition for us), and Resident Evil: Apocalypse. We were going to see Shaun of the Dead, but the Moviephone times were incorrect, and RE was scheduled to start in five minutes, so... It was fine. You can't go in expecting too much.

Thursday was my last dance class at the Century Ballroom, and it was sad to say goodbye to my fellow salseros. I was taking mental pictures of the ballroom all evening. I've had salsa, lindy and tango classes there for the last 2.5 years, and I adore the instructors and it is my favorite place to salsa dance in Seattle. I've been to numerous other places, and they just don't compare in size of dance floor, dancing and atmosphere.

I went out to drinks with some friends [who were unable to make my going away party] last night. I was exhausted and was planning on leaving by 10.30ish. However, we met up at a little dive bar downtown that has videogames and pinball, and a couple of the guys started playing a hunting game. OK. So we moved tables. I'd played that game only once before, and didn't do too well. So, I started playing the game next to it. I don't remember what it was called, but it was a shoot-up-the-terrorist game. I discovered that [according to that game] I generally have an 85% shot accuracy, I can clear a room of terrorists and USUALLY not hit the civilians or law enforcement, and my style of shooting alternates between the occasional headshot and the much more common groin shot. In the game, the guy terrorists would grab themselves and double over. The guys I was with commented on my predominant target with awe and cringing. The only other woman in the group did ok at the hunting game (I tried it, and interestingly, I do better at shooting skeet and frogs than I do at shooting larger targets like bucks). I sooo wish I'd had my camera last night. The expression on her face when she was concentrating and shooting was priceless. I've known her for a couple years and I've never seen that face. I ended up staying out much later than I intended, and I had a great deal of fun.

It's been sad to see people and say goodbye to them. It really started hitting me on Wednesday that nearly everytime I see a friend now, it will be the last time I see them for a year (unless they are one of the several that have talked about visiting me in Argentina or one of the ones stopping by to see me today, too). It can be very sad because I dearly love my friends. However, I'm also looking forward to all the new friends I will meet travelling, and I know that I will probably be coming back to Seattle to live and that we're all not really that far apart.

Today, I am frantically trying to get some last minute things done and am seeing my mother and a couple friends. The bigger issue today, is to do my laundry and re-pack and lighten my backpack. My backpack is currently stuffed, and there are still a few toiletries and a couple books I need to pack. Also, my backpack is insanely heavy. I put it on my back for a couple minutes after I zipped it up last night, and my back was mildly sore for an hour afterwards... My roommate picked it up, and estimates it's about 75 pounds. Shoot. Me. Now. I'm glad I have a backpack on wheels. I will definitely be reassessing my packing today, and seeing what I can remove. I won't be moving around in Argentina too much, and I know I will shed some of the clothes as they wear out, but still... I'm thinking that instead of packing a Space Bag of smaller clothing, that I will just have someone either mail it to me or have it brought to me by someone that visits me. I also have to remember that while taking a pair of jeans sounds appealing, the weather will be hot there. I rarely wear jeans in summer, so I took them out of the bag. I expect the weather will be in the high 70s/low 80s while I'm there, and I need to keep this in mind as I re-pack today. It's just so hard packing for a year. I want to take clothes I enjoy, even though I know I can buy things along the way. Did I mention previously that while I am a light packer overall, it doesn't start out that way??

I have not been getting enough sleep for days. I sleep for maybe six or seven hours, and then I wake up. I'm exhausted and my body just won't give in. I sleep fine when I do, but six or seven hours is not enough this week. Each morning, my mind automatically clicks to "ok, what do I need to pack" and "x days until I leave". Every day, my mind is spinning with details, things to do, things to pack, general stress about the trip and general stress about saying goodbye to my friends All Day Long. And now I'm starting my period today. Oh, the joys of that during long flights. I'm expecting that I will get to Florida and then sleep in my hotel rooms. I sure hope so, otherwise I will be a wreck when I get to Argentina.

It's been raining off and on this week, and I've loved it. I'm going to miss experiencing the rest of Autumn. One of the reasons I like rain in autumn is that it always seems the leaves on the tress are a little more vibrant after the rain. It's likely just the rain washing off dust and car exhaust, but it is such a lovely effect. I'm also a Seattle-ite that just loves the rain.

My final thought/wish for this morning: Please don't let Mt. St. Helens have a massive eruption today or tomorrow morning. Please.

Morning fog

It was gorgeously foggy outside the house this morning when I woke up. I'm sitting in the basement writing and emailing, and I don't know if it's still foggy. I will miss foggy mornings. But then, all I'd have to do is go towards Tierra del Fuego (which I intend on doing, anyway -- I'd really enjoy seeing the glaciers).

The cats are rampantly chasing each other on the main floor. I can hear them ricocheting on the hardwood floor upstairs.

Seriously, I am going to finish packing this morning. I do not plan on doing it Saturday night and do not want to break my back from overpacking. I travel reasonably lightly, but that doesn't mean my backpack starts off that way...

A little bit of fun

In order to lighten all the "I'm scared! I'm excited! I'm scared!" and logistic countdowns I've been doing, here are some recent vignettes of fun and amusement:

1. At the bar where the Wild Punch incident occurred, there was karaoke going on. Now, I do not sing. At all (except when alone). I played four instruments in high school, but am tone deaf when it comes to singing. Anyway, my roommate has long been a Madonna fan -- and that's fan in the meaning of fanatic. I love her to bits, but she can't sing. However, give her some tequila and beer, and she's belting out Holiday like a star. Even with the lack of singing, she goes out and makes the effort and has a Very Fun time -- so fun, that people can forgive her lack of singing ability. During all the little musical interludes without lyrics, she started on a little political rousing. You can imagine, I'm sure. "It would be / It would be so nice (without Bush) / We deserve a holiday (vote for Kerry)". She also sang another song later, and as the alcohol was heavier in her system, so was the political messaging. Top it all off with some fun dance moves, and she was a star of the night.

2. Also on Wednesday night, there was a man that came in, sang in an incredible Barry White love ballad (sounding nearly identical to Mr. White), and then immediately segued into a Louis Armstrong song (sounding nearly identical to Mr. Armstrong). Folks, that is an amazing transition. His voice was amazing and was gorgeous to listen to.

3. My friend from out of town and I went to dinner with another friend, and then went salsa dancing. We met via salsa dancing, and he used to dance a great deal. Sadly, he had not danced in about a year. However, we still had a great deal of fun. I led him a little bit (I know about three moves as a salsa lead), and every ten seconds, he was either saying:

a: you lead
b: tell me another move
c: oh! I just remembered another move!

He was always my favorite lead to dance with, and rusty though his dancing is now, I still greatly enjoyed it. He was improvising, too -- sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but we were always smiling and enjoying ourselves. The dancing was much more about having fun than about executing difficult moves. Nights like Saturday night remind me why I fell in love with partner dancing 2.5 years ago.

4. May sound crazy (it was), but I watched about 15 minutes of Jerry Springer today. It was a dull moment of the day, having just eaten. JS is the most bizarre spectacle, especially with his little Thought of the Day (or whatever it's called) at the end of the show. How he can moralize after watching and encouraging people to name call, fight and air their trailer trash craziness on national television is bizarre. I can only imagine watching the show would make a good drinking game -- everytime someone is bleeped, drink; everytime someone flashes their tits or ass, drink twice. Even the most heavyweight drinker would surely be drunk by halfway into the show. It was probably my JS fix for the next three years and I'm embarassed to admit I watched it, but I was laughing almost non-stop.

5. The cats. There are just too many incidents to isolate a few. My roommates cats are the best. Bravado is a big loverboy, and makes the sweetest cooing noises. If you pet him while he sleeps, he will coo. When he's feeling loving, he'll sit on your chest and lick your neck, while kneading his paws, too. Did I mention he's a loverboy? Gracie, well, she's a little princess and doesn't let anyone forget that she runs the house and can manipulate my roommate to no end. She has a little routine she does in front of the front door when she wants to go out side. She'll cry, she'll scratch the [wood] door, she'll twirl around your ankles. She'll break your heart. They chase each other, or sometimes they just chase imaginary insects. Today, Bravado was walking around with his tail fluffed to the size of a mid-size cucumber. Seriously. We have no idea what set him off. While they go at each other a couple times a day (usually, it's Gracie going after Bravado), there are times when they will both be sleeping next to each other, or cleaning each other, and you just pause and revel in the love they give. OK. So that's anthropomorphizing them a bit. However, if you've ever had or lived with pets, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

As a side story, I dogsat a black lab for several weeks last Autumn, and she was the most amazing dog in the world -- knew over 100 words and a series of hand commands; had the kindest demeanor and as a guy she met on the street in Paris said "The look in her eyes makes my heart weep". Of course, he was eating a sandwich on a bench bordering the Seine, and she was trying to charm some of the sandwich from his hands into her stomach. She was a mistress extraordinaire of charming food from people -- especially complete strangers.

It is another side story to say that I was minding Tosi here in Seattle, and that I got to take her to Paris. While she never "worked" a day in her life, she had service dog qualifications, so she was able to fly in the cabin with me, instead of the cold cargo hold. She just sat at my feet and dozed nearly the entire time, perfectly behaved.

I have many stories of Tosi, and may work some into this blog over time. She was incredible.

The world is an incomplete place now that Tosi is gone. She made my heart burst with love and affection. The next time I settle down, I want to get a dog.

One week and counting

Yikes, I leave one week from today. And then I will be in Argentina one week from Wednesday. While it's starting to feel more real, in that my departure date is rapidly approaching, it's feeling even more surreal in other ways. It's like I'm in a movie, and watching Life and only participating tangently. I've also realized that I've been withdrawing from my life here in Seattle. I'd originally only intended to have three weeks between stopping working and leaving Seattle. It's been four weeks already. I don't regret it, as I've had more time to relax and more time to take care of everything without rushing at a frantic pace.

I am nearly all packed (just shoes and toiletries remain to be packed), and my backpack is looking to be exactly the right size. I'm packing a little heavier than I anticipated, but that's because I talked to someone I know who spent six months in South America last year (largely in Argentina), and she said finding clothes can be difficult. Apparently Argentinian woman are typically small, and finding clothing over a size 12 was not easy in her experience. I've packed some clothes which are smaller than I currently wear, as I always lose weight as I travel and I want to have clothes that will fit, so I don't wander around looking like a hobo.

So, the final week of seeing people is beginning. Already, I'm having friends asking if they will be seeing me again. I went to lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a year or so. I have other friends that are making extra time to see me, despite busy schedules. Though, there is a notable exception to that, and I'm to say I'm angry at that person doesn't even cover it. A friend visiting from out of town, who I thought I would only see last night, will be able to visit again today. I'm so pleased and excited to see him again.

I've been worried about the seemingly dauntless task of creating a new circle of friends while travelling. With the exception of a couple years during the Middle School/High School years, I've lived in Seattle all my life. I have several long-term friends, and a variety of additional friends I've met over the past 4-6 years. I have never done a major city move as an adult, or moved somewhere where I did not know anyone, or was alone. So, on top of all the other stresses a trip like this entails, I think about this. I'm sure the first few weeks will be difficult in that I will be somewhat lonely. However, that will be tempered with the excitement and initial adventure of being in a new place. I will also be studying tango and probably taking Spanish language classes, and I will undoubtedly meet people who will become friends there. I do not doubt I will have a whole new set of friends at the end of my travels. I'm more concerned about the transition from my existing friends to creating new relationships. I will also miss being around people that I share history with and being able to make references to things like chicken chili, nights of Cuban debauchery, my former job; or people that just know my movie preferences.

I will miss hugs from my friends.

I will surely be emailing A Lot in the first couple weeks.

All I really have left to do is re-pack the boxes I've been living out of, do some laundry, decide whether I'm taking my laptop, and say Until Next Year to my friends.

Next Sunday at this time, I'll be sitting in an airport, yakking on my cell phone, freaking out and waiting to board a plane.